Floor mat



H. DHEHL Jam 8, 1935 FLOOR MAT Filed Jan. 19, 1932 INVENTOR. Llggd fiDie/2? ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES FLOOR MAT Lloyd H. Diehl, Detroit,Mich., assignor to Detroit Gasket & Mfg. 00., Detroit, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Application January 19, 1932, Serial No. 587,555

4 Claims.

5 insulating characteristics.

In addition to the above specified qualities my improved floor mat alsopossesses a substantial body and its cushioning property, whileexceedingly high, has a life substantially equal tothat of the articleitself and is highly resistant ,to influences tending to destroy thesame. The mat is fully flexible and readily conformable to angularvariations of the floor upon which it is laid. It is a homogeneousintegral structure, inexpensive as to cost and lends itself todecorative embossing. It is highly resistant to any untoward corrosiveor disintegrating influences and does not lose its cushioning orinsulating properties upon exposure to the elements.

Other important features and advantages of my improved floor mat aremore fully brought out in the following specification, appended claims,and accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a section of the mat, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view.

Floor mats for automobile use have heretofore been formed of moldedrubber and it is common practice to place a felt cushion underneath suchmats. The felt cushion, while it serves effectively as a cushion. duringthe normal life of the felt, is highly susceptible to water, dirt, andother disintegrating influences which tend to cause it to lose to alarge degree its meritorious characteristics. My improved mat is anintegral structure throughout and possesses very high cushioningcharacteristics which continue throughout the normal life of the articleand it is not subject to the disintegrating influences of dirt and waterso as to cause it to lose its cushioning or high sound and heatinsulating characteristics.

In the preferred form illustrated I employ an upper, relatively thinwear resisting surface layer of molded rubber. This surface layer isbacked up integrally by a substantially coextensive relatively thickcushioning layer of rubber, ground or granulated cork and an oil binderas shown in Figures 1 and 2. The rubber, as will be appreciated, imparts(1) resilience and (2) acts as a binder for the cork. The cushioninglayer formed of the ground cork, rubber and oil binder, is fabricated inan ordinary mill such as is well known in the trade and does not requireany heat vulcanizing or special curing treatment but sets upon mereexposure to atmosphere at normal temperature. The amount of corkemployed, measured by volume, is many times that of the otheringredients similarly measured and the resultant structure possesseshigh sound and heat insulating characteristics.

In addition, the cushioning layer is fully flexible and because of theemployment of the rubber and oil and binder is highly resistant toattack by water or dirt and does not suffer any appreciable corrosive ordisintegrating effects under normal wear. This lower cushioning layer,due to the employment of the large quantity of cork and the oil binder,does not lose its cushioning property as does ordinary rubber andretains this characteristic during the normal life of the structure.Furthermore, the entire structure possesses substantial body and isreadily conformable to angular variations in the floor such as may befound in automobile bodies and it also has a very high adhesivecharacteristic on its lower surface which tends to a pronounced degreeto hold the mat in place and prevent buckling and rumpling thereof whichis a common accompaniment of ordinary molded rubber mats.

What I claim is: 1. A floor mat having an upper wear resistant surfacelayer formed of rubber and a lower cushioning and sound and heatinsulating layer secured thereto as an integral structure, said lowercushioning and insulating layer being composed of an admixture of groundcork, rubber and oil, said layer being flexible and possessing highsound and heat insulating characteristics and a high surface adhesioncharacteristic.

2. An automobile floor mat having a relatively thick lower cushioninginsulating layer possessing high surface adhesion characteristics, saidlayer being composed of ground cork, rubber, and an oil binder, saidlayer being provided with a relatively thin integral upper wearingsurface layer of rubber.

3. A flexible mat for floors comprising an upper wearing surface layerof rubber, and asubstantially coextensive flexible cushion under layerunited to said rubber layer, said flexible cushion under layercomprising comminuted cork and a binder.

4. A flexible mat for floors comprising an upper wearing surface layerof rubber, and a substantially coextensive flexible cushion under layerunited to said rubber layer, said flexible cushion under layercomprising comminuted cork and a binder including rubber.

LLOYD H. DlEHL.

